LAGOS – The president, Paralympic Committee of Nigeria (PCN), Mr. Sunday Odebode has stated that he desires to surpass the Tokyo 2020 paralympic Games performance of Team Nigeria.
He called on support and prayers from all Nigerians as the team departed on a training tour to Germany with twenty four athletes.
Team Nigeria will participate in four sports; para badminton, para athletics, para table tennis and para powerlifting.
Speaking on Monday at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport while bidding the contingent farewell, Odebode said “I will not promise certain number of medals because anything can happen in sport but all that I know is that with the level of our preparation and the determination of our athletes, Nigeria shall excel at the Games. The athletes have been in camp for almost three months with serous training and now they were embarking on foreign training tour which will further boost their morale and knowledge, so with this I hope and believe we shall come back home with medals”.
He continued, “I will use this medium to call for support and prayers from all Nigerians to excel. We need this because there is nothing that does not need prayers. We are carrying the burden of all Nigerians and as such we need their support and prayers”, the PCN boss said.
Onye Lauritta, a shot put thrower expressed optimism that the athletes will bring smiles to the faces of all Nigerians going by the preparation they went through but will not categorically say the number of medals to be expected.
In her words, “it is not an easy task to be at the Olympics and win medals (gold) but we all are aspiring to make the country proud and no matter the colour, medal is medal, and we are bringing medals home”, she said confidently.
